The first one was the Nissan Stanza, introduced at the 1981 New York International Auto Show as a 1982 model. Available in four body styles (two-door sedan, four-door sedan, five-door wagon and three-door hatchback coupe), it was the second car to be marketed in the United States under the nameplate of Nissan and using a model name instead of a number. The model was initially imported from Japan, where it was produced at Zama plant. The first generation of the Nissan Sentra was introduced in the United States in May 1982 as a direct replacement for the Datsun 210. The word Sentra sounds like central as well as sentry, which evokes images of safety.'

The Sentra name was created for Nissan by Ira Bachrach of NameLab, and Bachrach describes the origin as 'Nissan wanted consumers to understand that it was quite safe even though it was small. While previous Sentras were subcompacts, the Sentra has grown over the years, with the Nissan Versa having replaced the Sentra in the entry-level area. In North America, the Sentra currently serves as Nissan's compact car, despite being rated as a mid-size car by the EPA due to its interior volume since the 2007 model year. In Mexico, the first three generations of the Sentra were known as the Nissan Tsuru (Japanese for crane), and the B13 model was sold under that name until 2017, alongside the updated models badged as Sentra. Many other countries in Latin America sell their versions of the Sunny as the Sentra. The Sentra nameplate is not used in Japan. Until 2006, Sentra was a rebadged export version of the Japanese Nissan Sunny, but since the 2013 model year, Sentra is a rebadged export version of the Sylphy. Since 1999, the Sentra has been categorized as a compact car, while previously it occupied the subcompact class. The Nissan Sentra is a series of automobiles manufactured by the Japanese Nissan since 1982.

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